Liverpool defender Daniel Agger says the first half of the club’s season has
been “not good enough”.

The Dane says the embarrassment of their Boxing Day defeat by Stoke City is still felt by the players, even after their 3-0 win at Queens Park Rangers four days later.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Sunderland, Agger told his team-mates it was unacceptable for a club of Liverpool's stature to mix good results with bad ones.

He said: “We are in a place where we are not happy, where we are in the table now is not good enough and we want to get higher. And the only way to get that is to get three points every week – or try to get three points every week.

“Even after the QPR victory, in the back of our heads the Stoke game was so bad. If you look at QPR alone it was a good win but we still have that Stoke game in our heads.

“If you play for a football club like this, you need to have the motivation every single week. And if you don’t have that, then you shouldn’t be here.”

Agger said he could not explain Liverpool’s indifferent form under Brendan Rodgers.

He said: “I cannot explain this. Every time you play a good game and then a bad game, it is the same question. I honestly think it is impossible to explain. It would be too easy if you could say, ‘That’s the problem’, because then we could go and work on it. When things like that happen, it is difficult to explain.”